lcmarie19's reviews
2173 reviews

Very interesting story. There are a few questions that I still have, but it's definitely worthy of an above average rating.

When I initially started this book, I wasn't sure how I felt about Wick or Lily. Wick, in my opinion, was already too extreme and Lily was just too passive. In that regard, they make a good sibling duo. Lily kept Wick in check and Wick kept Lily rational. But it took me until half of the book to really tolerate Wick. Griff, my favorite character (next to Lauren & Todd), was a great guy. He was witty, he was brave, he was a high school boy tryng to do a grown man's work. I think, for 300 pages, his character develops quite well.

Now, the mystery throughout the book was very intriguing. I kept wanting to know who did it? Why did they do it? And while those questions were answered, I also felt like the book was too short to properly contextualize everything. I would have liked more back story on Tessa, as opposed to basic exposition. It just kind of came out of nowhere for me. But Bernard did a great job in 300 pages, I just wish the book was about 100 pages longer.

I fail to understand how and why Wick was suspicious of Officer Carson, other than the fact that he was after her for her hacking skills that she constantly exploited to make money. In the beginning of the book, she paints a specific picture of him and then by the end, it's a different picture. Granted, that's supposed to happen in books; perspectives change once the proper knowledge is gathered. I guess my concern is that I couldn't see how the initial assumption was valid. Unless, I missed that part in the book.

Bren was a quiet character, to me. She wasn't a favorite, but she wasn't a least favorite. By the end of the book, I am slight more curious about her as a person, and I'm hoping that'll be address in the next book.

Another thing that grated my nerves -- just a bit -- was Wick's passivity when it came to bullies (people bullying her) and then when it came to standing it for her sister, she was all aggressive about it. I couldn't stand how Wick didn't stand up for herself! Griff had to do it. Not often, but enough to where I found myself wondering about this girl. Also, she made a lot of stupid decisions that Lauren AND Lily both told her were stupid. Hindsight is definitely 20/20 but in WIck's case, Come on! Wick is definitely a product of her upbringing -- her father is very unpleasant, as is Joe -- so I try to be lenient in my developing perception of her.

I know I'm sounding like I had more issues with the story than non-issues, which is not the case. This is definitely a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. You're constantly questioning all of the characters, everyone is a suspect for a moment. Everyone has something to hide. I would find myself reading 50 pages, then I would try to put the book down and found that I couldn't. It is fast-paced, well developed, and chilling. The crimes that are committed in the book are very realistic, which makes it even worse! But in a good way.

Because this is the first of a trilogy, the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger. But not in the way that you'd think. I will be continuing the series and can't wait to see what Wick gets into next.

SUCH A GOOD BOOK! Sarah Rees Brennan hasn't let me down YET! I honestly think this book was better than the first book, and I OBSESSED over the first book!

Kami Glass is back and better than ever. She is such a badass! And is porbably, by far, my favorite protagonist (male or female) ever. She is honestly just like me. She thinks like me, she feels like me, she reacts like me. And I think that's why I connect with her so much. She is an exact copy of me. Minus the half-Asian part. I am not half Asian. I simply LOVE her development. I love her flaws and her strengths. Everything about her, I respect. Because it's real. She is not pretending with anyone. Sarah Rees Brennan has such a way of creating characters that mean something to everyone. That matter to each person who reads her books. It's a rare talent.

Jared and Ash (the Lynburn boys) are back with a fiery presence. And while Jared is still my favorite, Ash definitely holds his own throughout this book. And I think a lot of that has to actually do with his mother, Lillian (who I will get to in a bit). I grow closer to Ash in this book because I begin to understand him on a level that I didn't before.

Angela is also a reflection of me, as a teenager, which is why I adore her. I learned so much more about her and SRB, once again, brilliantly intertwins real life experiences into a gothic paranormal romance. Fluidly. Angela is a fantastic representation of the modern day girl struggling with identity. And throwing Holly into the mix (and reading about Holly's struggles with her identity as well), just makes their backstories and interactions beautiful to read.

I have loved Kami's dad since book one and was waiting on his time to shine, especially once he discovers what had been going on in this town and in his family. I love how Brennan handled his development and his relationships within his family. It felt real and honest.

Kami and Jared's weird relationship gets quite the bit of focus throughout the book and I will say that I am happy that it is a slow process. It's not rushed. It's confusing. It's angry. It's passionate. I don't think it would be believeable any other way.

Finally, let's talk about this damn Lynburn family. They're arrogant, condescending and just plain rude. Even Ash and Jared have hintings of those traits, but Lillian is a conundrum for me. I find myself liking her, but then I find myself disliking her. And I think that is testimony to how complex of a character she truly is. Lillian is not a one dimensional character and throughout the book, there are instances displaying that fact.

The ending to this book was so full of drama and action and emotion that at times I found myself being overwhelmed. Brennan, you fantastic, horrible, despicable, brilliant woman. Way to rock my world. The book in it's entirety is something you definitely have to buckle your seatbelts for. Prepare for adventure, prepare for emotions, prepare for feels. Feels all around.

Bring on book three! I need it.

I'll give it a 3.5 stars instead. Still not a 4-star book for me, unfortunately.

This story had the potential to be EXTREMELY interesting. But it was just okay for me. Even though this is the first book in the series, I just felt like there were too many questions by the end of this book.

Mara Dyer annoyed me for a majority of the book. Yes, I know she lost her friends and she had a traumatic experience, but the choices she made when it came to sharing information or not sharing information? That pissed me off! It got to the point where when she decided to stay quiet about the phone call, I threw the book across the room!

Noah Shaw is a gem. I enjoyed him. Very witty, dedicated, loyal, protective. Mara was a straight biatch to him, but he saw through it (for special reasons that he reveals toward the end of the book). Daniel was a great character, too, a little too meddlesome at times, but hey, he's her brother. I think my problem is that I enjoyed all of the male characters and NONE of the female ones.

Her mother isn't my favorite character. Not that she's a bad person; she isn't. I just didn't care for her. Mara was the only one that I had the potential to really love, but instead I couldn't stand her for a while. She does have a few redeeming qualities about her -- like her determination, bravery, etc. But she is stubborn to a fault and closed off. And it's putting her and people around her in danger!

I will continue the series because I really want my opinion about her to change. Sooner rather than later. Hopefully the story gets better, which I think it will because of who "appeared" at the very end of the book.

But, I WILL continue onto book 2!

Definitely a 4.5-star book. MUCH better than the first one! Review to come soon.

I think I just found my new favorite (2nd favorite) book boyfriend in Roth -- Astaroth, the **spoiler spoiler of spoiler**.

SUCH an AWESOME book! I can't even process, mentally or verbally, how fantastic of a journey this book took me on. I really loved Layla. And you add Roth to the mix, it's a party! Zayne was even pretty decent by the middle of the book. And the plot revealed shock aftet shock after shock!

Can October hurry up already? I need the next book! I need more Roth!

This is one of those rare moments when I dislike the protagonist and love everybody else. Seriously, there is not one in this book that I don't like other than Kiera. But then again, that's partially the reason why I enjoyed the book. The story was great! Kellan is swoon-worthy, Denny was a great guy, Anna is awesome, Jenny is great. The band is a really fun group of guys. Overall, fun characters throughout!

This book is a TON of feels. All over the place. I was pissed, I was happy, I was sad, I felt guilty. I felt it all. Stephens does a great job telling a good story and if it were her intention to make me hate her main character, well, she did it. I really had a hard time with Kiera because almost every decision she made was stupid and ended up hurting the very people that she set out to protect. And she kept doing it! Expecting something different. Insanity, much?

Anyway, the smexy scenes were great. Not too much, not too little. Not too crude. Just descriptive enough.

I'm not a fan of any one who cheats, but I especially get riled up when it's a woman who cheats, which is part of my frustration with Kiera. I just wanted her to own up to her role in all of the mess that she created.

Hands down, Kellan won my heart. Even though, he played a wrong in the cheating. He still comes out on top (in comparison to Kiera), if you ask me. This is definitely a great read, but it is a hard one to get through. Because of the ethics, because of Kiera's stupid choices, because of all of the feels.

But I did really like it!

Sigh... I was bored. That's really the problem. I don't know if the story was bad or if I was just bored. Maybe both, but I just found myself not caring about ANY of these characters. I didn't even care about the plot. I just found the concept of Panic to be really stupid because kids in a small town were bored and wanted to do something. But then again, this is testimony to what people can do when they're historically boring.

Dodge needed anger management.
Nat needed to quite being a brat and superficial.
Heather needed to stop being so depressed and negative about ALL of life (and she's my favorite character of this bunch)
Bishop was just there. That's all. He was just there.

Lauren Oliver has always been hit & miss with me and unfortunately, this book is a slight miss.

I finished this book in 3.5 hours! It was such an adorable read. The main character, Jacqueline, was a cool girl. She is a young college student who is trying to find her way through life (the typical description), but she is caught in a horrible situation (sexual assault) that causes her to not only have to make some changes in her life, but also address a newfound connection she has with the guy who saves her.

Lucas, the main male character in the book, is a really sweet guy. But also very wounded and secretive. He is such a dedicated, determined, hardworking guy that is trying to heal from a past hurt, and then he meets Jacqueline, who then forces him to address his past.

This was overall a really cute story. It had its sad moments, its happy moments, and it frustrating moments. But, it was pretty basic and very predicatable. And that is not a bad thing. I enjoyed the secondaary characters, Erin, Maggie, Kennedy, Dr. Heller. They are added their own specific elements to the story.

THe topic of sexual abuse is heavily influential throughout this story, which I appreciate. I especially enjoyed the perspective of fraternites/sororities and their reactions (or lack thereof) to sexual abuse.

Tammara Webber writes a nice fluffy story, but this one also has some great elements of growth (personally and mentally), which all readers should be able to relate to. Like I mentioned, it was a really quick read and I look forward to reading more books from her.

Maybe it's because I love young girls realizing their own strength, maybe it's because Courtney C. Stevens is damn good, maybe it's because I'm also a sexual assault victim -- or maybe it's all three, but this book was absolutely soul stirring for me. I connected with Alexi on so many levels that it was like I was reading about myself, only I never spoke up when it happened.

This is a story of a young girl, Alexi, and her life after being sexually assaulted. It's about how it affects those around her, as well as herself. She is such a frustratingly accurate character, because you're rooting for her to save herself, but you also want to shake her when she backs away from her own strength. Her friends, Liz & Heather, are a great balancing dynamic for her because Alexi was inside her own head so ofter, so to have her two good friends bring her out of her funk from time to time? That really gave us a glimpse of who Alexi truly was before the incident.

Bodee (I love that name) is another character that is learning about his own strength. He's learning about his bravery, but he's also Alexi's own personal cheerleader. Through a horrible tragedy, he ends up living with Alexi's family and the two grow closer than they've ever been. Through their pain. Bodee is such a fantastic guy, and is an excellent supporter throughout the book. He calls Alexi out on her crap, and he holds her accountable. I really enjoyed their relationship. Especially how it progressed so perfectly. Both acknowledging hoe vulnerable of a state they were in.

Alexi's family, especially her sister Kayla, grew on me after a bit. Kayla and Alexi have such an on and off sibling relationship. Kayla is definitely about herself, and has the tendency to be extremely insensitive. I wasn't too big of a fan of hers for most of the book.

Stevens does a great job in painting a picture of what it's like to be inside a girl's mind, after such a horrible incident. The blame game. The denial. The shame. Making excuses for the person who hurt you. Justifying the assault. And the one that got to me the most -- not being able to speak up with you know something is wrong. I struggled a lot with Alexi being so quiet and just letting people do things to her. I struggled with that a lot, but it made me empathize with her as a young girl, all the same. I was angry at her attacker, but I was angry at Alexi. And I think that's due the personal connections I have with the story.

Overall, the plot was great. The characters were great. Perfectly paced. This is not an easy book to read, in my opinion, especially if you're closely connected (directly or indirectly) to the topic of sexual assault. Courtney C. Stevens did a great thing for the YA genre. This kind of book should definitely be mandatory. Sparking conversations.

This book was absolute PERFECTION! How Colleen Hoover got me hooked on the storyline just 3 pages in is beyond me, but it was so fantastic! Dean Holder is EVERYTHING I could need in the perfect male character. He is just all of the perfect & imperfect things that I love about a man.

Sky, the female lead, is a wonderfully written character as well. She is funny, sarcastic, sensitive, smart. Even when she had her petty moments, it was all endearing to me. This girl was dealing with a lot of heavy stuff and she handled it brilliantly, even in times when she didn't think she could. And Holder was right there, being the perfect support system for her. You notice hoe many times I've said 'perfect'?

The plot is so GOOD! So many twists & turns. So many feels. TONS of crying, anger, happiness. Colleen Hoover did an exceptional job in making my FEEL THINGS as a reader. I couldn't put this book down! This was such an honest & realistic story, a painful one; but realistic all the same.

The sexy times were written extremely well. There was a lot of love that went into those scenes, and that was very apparent. I didn't feel like Hoover gave us too much, and I didn't feel that she gave too little.

Can I also say that the supporting characters of Breckin and Karen -- who each serve their own purposes in this story -- were great. They aided in the development of the story so well, especially Breckin. He was just a great bit of comic relief. I actually would like for him to be my best gay friend.

This is a story that will send anyone on a long roller coaster of emotion, so be prepared. But it is so worth it. Holder is perfection. The story is perfection. I have NO complaints about this book. All good things. It is a favorite and deserves ALL 5 stars!